Victor Zuckerkandl
Encyclopedia
Viktor Zuckerkandl was a Jewish-Austria
n musicologist. His doctorate was granted in 1927 from Vienna University, and conducted freelance throughout the decade of the 1920s. He was a critic for Berlin newspapers from 1927–1933 and taught theory and appreciation courses in Vienna from 1934-1938. He emigrated to the US in 1940, teaching at Wellesley College until 1942, when he took a job as a machinist in the war effort. From 1946-48 he taught theory at The New School
in New York, and joined the faculty at St. John's College, Annapolis
in 1948. He remained at St. John's, teaching music as part of their Great Books
program, until his retirement in 1964.
His explanations of music theory
were heavily indebted to the theories of musicologist Heinrich Schenker
, and his understandings of musical perception owed much to Gestalt psychology
, as well as German phenomenology. Zuckerkandl believed music was part of the "mystical aspect of human existence", and sought to explain its existence in all cultures as a universal phenomenon. He was not well known until his works were rediscovered by scholars in the 1990s.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n musicologist. His doctorate was granted in 1927 from Vienna University, and conducted freelance throughout the decade of the 1920s. He was a critic for Berlin newspapers from 1927–1933 and taught theory and appreciation courses in Vienna from 1934-1938. He emigrated to the US in 1940, teaching at Wellesley College until 1942, when he took a job as a machinist in the war effort. From 1946-48 he taught theory at The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
in New York, and joined the faculty at St. John's College, Annapolis
St. John's College, U.S.
St. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
in 1948. He remained at St. John's, teaching music as part of their Great Books
Great Books
Great Books refers primarily to a group of books that tradition, and various institutions and authorities, have regarded as constituting or best expressing the foundations of Western culture ; derivatively the term also refers to a curriculum or method of education based around a list of such books...
program, until his retirement in 1964.
His explanations of music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
were heavily indebted to the theories of musicologist Heinrich Schenker
Heinrich Schenker
Heinrich Schenker was a music theorist, best known for his approach to musical analysis, now usually called Schenkerian analysis....
, and his understandings of musical perception owed much to Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology or gestaltism is a theory of mind and brain of the Berlin School; the operational principle of gestalt psychology is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies...
, as well as German phenomenology. Zuckerkandl believed music was part of the "mystical aspect of human existence", and sought to explain its existence in all cultures as a universal phenomenon. He was not well known until his works were rediscovered by scholars in the 1990s.
Works
- Prinzipien und Methoden der Instrumentation in Mozarts Werken (diss., U. of Vienna, 1927)
- Musikalische Gestaltung der grossen Opernpartien: jugendlich-dramatisches Fach (Berlin, 1932)
- Die Weltgemeinschaft der Juden (Zürich, 1938)
- Sound and Symbol, 1956
- The Sense of Music, 1959
- Vom musikalischen Denken (1964)
- Man the Musician, 1973